Frank 'Killjoy' Pucci 1969-2018

Heavy music has been dealt another blow with the death of Frank 'Killjoy' Pucci, who has died at the age of 48. While his name might not be immediately recognisable to all, there is no escaping this inarguable fact: as the frontman of Necrophagia, Killjoy was one of the original progenitors of death metal, and his contribution to extreme music cannot be understated. If you’re a fan of Thy Art Is Murder, Venom Prison, The Black Dahlia Murder or even Killswitch Engage or Bring Me The Horizon - basically any band with a vocalist happy to decimate their vocal chords, obsessively hung up on horror, or that at some point has described their output as ‘brutal’ or ‘extreme’ - then Killjoy’s influence likely touched your life, and helped ensure it has had one hell of a soundtrack.

Necrophagia formed in 1983, and Killjoy proudly maintained that no extreme metal band prior to them made horror and gore the central themes to every aspect of their music, lyrics and visuals. Indeed, from the outset the vocalist revelled in the brutally direct and graphically violent stories he told with inhuman growls, roars and screams, their first demo catchily titled Death Is Fun. Coming into their own with their 1987 full-length debut, Season Of The Dead, it was a record that felt like watching a horror movie - and not a glossy Hollywood one, but one that perhaps made it to you on a 7th generation VHS tape, and conjured the sneaking suspicion that it might be more real than you want to believe.

At the same time, alongside Possessed’s back-to-back onslaught of Seven Churches (1985) and Beyond The Gates (1986), and Death’s seminal Scream Bloody Gore (1987), Season Of The Dead’s breakneck drumming, jagged riffs, eerie cinematic moments and unflinching viciousness helped lay the groundwork for the death metal movement that would explode from the underground in the early ’90s, and inform extreme music for the next 30 years.

Unfortunately, while the likes of Cannibal Corpse, Deicide and Morbid Angel took front and centre as the genre gathered speed, Necrophagia imploded after dropping only one full-length, though a bootleg of 1986’s unreleased Ready For Death emerged in 1990.

Following the dissolution of the band, Killjoy busied himself with two more thrash-oriented projects. He put his own name to the unit that dropped Compelled By Fear in 1990, and the superior thrash-death hybrid Cabal– who drew their moniker from the title of Clive Barker’s 1998 novel – debuted with Midian the same year. Apparently having set something of a precedent with Necrophagia, both dropped a single full-length before disbanding, and for much of the ’90s he disappeared from view. Later on in that decade, Killjoy resurfaced with Necrophagia, albeit with a wholly new line-up, including at-the-time Pantera/Down frontman Phil Anselmo on guitar (though credited as Anton Crowley), delivering 1998’s compellingly chaotic Holocausto De La Morte.

This collaboration with Anselmo spilled over into other projects, most notably black metallers Viking Crown, who released two full-lengths, and Eibon, a unit that also included Satyricon’s Satyr and Darkthrone drummer Fenriz, and Mayhem’s Maniac, but only managed to complete two tracks, their plans to record a full album scuppered by conflicting touring commitments. At the same time, he also hooked up with black metallers Wurdulak, death metal gang The Ravenous, and progressive doom/black crew Hidden, all projects dropping multiple records in the early ’00s and each restating Killjoy’s commitment to all things extreme.

Though no music ever appeared, in 2002 former Slipknot drummer Joey Jordison touted a black metal project with Killjoy, named Hellpig, and a once again revamped Necrophagia also went back to work in force, dropping the caustic collection The Divine Art Of Torture in 2003. Clearly on a creative high, during that same period Killjoy diversified, stepping away from extreme music, to work on the sole record by Enoch, 2004’s Graveyard Disturbances, on which he essentially created a soundtrack to a horror film that existed only within his head, full of processed synths and creepy atmospherics.

He also took his first foray into the world of underground horror films, credited as one of the writer/directors of 2003’s August Underground Mordum. Made on a practically non-existent budget, it is nonetheless extremely hard to differentiate its special effects from actual gore and violence, and it makes for distinctly unsettling viewing. His cameo as a corpse-collecting serial killer also stands as one of its highlights.

Eschewing any involvement in further features, he rededicated himself to Necrophagia for the remainder of the decade and into recent years. Though the line-up continued to evolve, their last three full-lengths all made for fine additions to their canon, 2005’s Harvest Ritual Volume I landing with phenomenal force, while 2011’s Deathtrip 69’s more bestial tone suited them down to the ground. Their final release during Killjoy’s lifetime would be 2014’s Whiteworm Cathedral. With perhaps the most ‘straightforward’ approach of any of their records, it captures Killjoy at his best as he unleashes hell over a barrage of stomping grooves and death metal violence, making for a solid swan song. Their last tour would be a European and UK run in June of 2017, culminating in a show at London’s legendary Underworld.

Taking to their Facebook page, the final Necrophagia line-up – drummer Shawn Slusarek, guitarist Serge Streitsov and bassist Jake Arnette – announced Killjoy’s death in a simple post, expressing their shock and sadness at the passing of their brother on Sunday morning. With no official cause of death having been released at the time of writing there will undoubtedly be speculation as to what ended his life prematurely, but the fact is he was another great talent with a lot left to say taken too soon. In a 2016 interview with Alternative Nation, Killjoy spoke enthusiastically of the latest Necrophagia record that was in the works, as well as several horror scripts he had penned and was hoping to direct. Whether any of these projects will see the light of day is as yet unknown, but the legacy he has left behind is humbling, and should be treated with the respect it’s due.

Words: Dan Slessor